Guess Who's Coming To Dinner: A God of War II Review

Written by TheBBPS

Monday, 19 March 2007 17:53

A few weeks ago when I played the demo for God of War II, I talked about it with Kevin and the way he described the game couldn't have been more accurate. He said, "It's like an old friend coming over for a visit." This game delivers in nearly every way its predecessor did with it's absolutely stellar gameplay, great story, cool music, and epic feel. In fact, this game is almost identical to the first God of War. Some might read that and think that God of War II is just copied and pasted from the first one, but when there is literally nothing wrong with the original, is that a bad thing?

The bread and butter of any game is gameplay and God of War II delivers this in spades. If you like to punch in actual combos on the controller or you just like to mash buttons, chances are you'll have a ball with this game. There's nothing quite like controlling Kratos as he uses his blades to tear through countless enemies. Few games have ever given me the visceral pleasure that God of War II has as I rip a guy's arm off only to stab him in the chest with that same arm, still holding a blade. Tearing asses up with the Blades of Athena is all well and good, but the programmers of God of War II saw fit to bestow you with a few secondary weapons. Although I didn't use them very much, they did help break up the constant awesomeness that this game shoves down my throat. If that arsenal of weapons doesn't do it for you, this game also offers some explosive magic to get your combos into the hundreds easily. All of these aspects blend together well and create a smooth, memorable fighting experience.

Critics of the first God of War complained that there were not enough boss fights. Assuming those same critics played the second one, we can at least tell them to shut up and quit bitching. God of War II is littered with them except this time instead of just fighting beasts, there are a few one on one matches with famous Greek mythological figures. Most of the boss fights are fun, not terribly difficult, and give you a nice sense of satisfaction once their blood is spilt. However, I feel in the sequel the creators may have sacrificed quality for quantity. Don't get me wrong. I loved fighting the Colossus and the Barbarian King, but they didn't come anywhere close to how much I enjoyed fighting the Minotaur from the first God of War. I almost hoped I'd lose the fight back then so I could play the battle over again. I didn't feel that quite so much this time.

Another great point about God of War II worth mentioning is the music. I loved the score for this game. The level of ass-kickery this game shells out demands an impressive, epic score. Demolishing hordes of mythical beasts sounds so much sweeter when loud booming battle music is your anthem.

Though very minor and usually infrequent, I did have one complaint about God of War II. Some of the puzzles could have used a little more fine tuning. Most of the game isn't rocket science, but on occasion solving a puzzle or moving to the next area wasn't very clear. I'm not the type of gamer that needs things spelled out, but when I spend forty-five minutes trying to figure out how to place a dead body on a pressure trigger I get a little frustrated. However most of the level designs and puzzles were not like this and the game was easy enough to navigate.

Overall, God of War II is an amazing game and a worthy follow-up. You can pretty much ignore the minor flaws I found with the game because this game is only separated from the first one by degrees of perfection. God of War II is a masterfully crafted game, but more importantly, it's just plain fun.

10 out of 10